Shimla, Jan 4

 The opposition BJP in Himachal Pradesh Saturday started a week-long 'Virbhadra hatao, pradesh bachao' campaign to seek Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's resignation following allegations of corruption against him.

"The party started demonstrations demanding the resignation of the chief minister over allegations of corruption. They would be held in all district headquarters in phases," BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt told IANS.

The chief minister denied the allegations and said these were politically motivated.

While Himachal party president Satpal Satti participated in a demonstration in the state capital, former two-time chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal led the protest in Hamirpur town.

Dhumal asked the chief minister to resign till he came out clean in the "shady deals" that he and his family members are alleged to be involved in with Vakamulla Chandersekhar of New Delhi, whose company was executing a hydropower project in the state.

He said that if Virbhadra Singh did not resign, the Bharatiya Janata Party would go to the president and the state governor and ask that he be removed from his post. They would also demand a CBI inquiry.

Alleging that there was an "open and shut case of corruption" against Virbhadra Singh over payments from a power company's promoter, BJP leader Arun Jaitley Dec 30 demanded a probe and action from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress.

At a press conference in Delhi, Jaitley alleged that Virbhadra Singh accepted money to the tune of Rs.1.5 crore and Rs.2.4 crore, through cheques in his and his parliamentarian wife Pratibha Singh's name, from Chandersekhar's Venture Energy and Technology Pvt. Ltd.

He said the company was given two extensions to pay up for defaulting in payment of Rs.58 lakh to the state government in a hydel power project. The cabinet, however, decided in February last year to cancel the project allocation.

"In the past few decades, no case of corruption has been so open and shut," Jaitley said.

By:IANS